Pacific

Remarkable Energy Careers: Jim Fama

We talked with Jim Fama, retiring and on his last day at EEI, about his remarkable career.

Jim Fama was the Edison Electric Institute’s vice president for energy delivery since 2002.

Playing Offense with EVs

How much of a $100 billion market in electric vehicles can utilities capture – or afford not to?

Electric transportation can be the utility sector’s growth engine — $100 billion or more per year — if the industry embraces the opportunities ahead.

People (October 2015)

James H. Lash, was named executive v.p. of FirstEnergy Corp. and president, FirstEnergy Generation. James F. Pearson was named executive v.p. and CFO of FirstEnergy. San Diego Gas & Electric named Emily Shults v.p. of electric & fuel procurement. Pacific Gas and Electric appointed Robert Kenney v.p. for regulatory relations - CPUC. American Electric Power named Stephan T. Haynes senior v.p., strategic initiatives and chief risk officer. AEP Texas named Tom Coad v.p. of distribution operations. Consumers Energy appointed Charles Crews as v.p. for gas operations, and Scott McIntosh as v.p. for tax. And others ...

People (August 2015)

Rick Riley was named group v.p. of customer service and operations for Entergy Arkansas Inc. and will replace Hugh McDonald as president and CEO when McDonald retires in 2016; Edison Electric Institute chose Nicholas K. "Nick" Akins, chairman, president and CEO of American Electric Power, and also elected four vice chairmen; Appointments by American Electric Power, Con Edison, Georgia Power, Dominion Resources, American Transmission Co. and Pacific Gas and Electric; and others...

Distribution Optimization: Ready for Takeoff

Part 1: How markets today are out of sync.

The time has come to consider options for optimizing distributed energy resources, with the intent of supporting a least-cost, reliable, and clean system that delivers more choice and control for customers.

Digest (May 2015)

Sonoma Clean Power will build the largest floating solar array in the U.S., scheduled to be completed in 2016 and will create enough energy to power 3,000 houses; GE announced the construction of two service centers focused on the operation and maintenance of wind turbines in Brazil; Open Systems International was awarded a contract by Seattle City Light to implement a new energy management system; FirstEnergy expects to invest about $225 million on distribution and transmission infrastructure projects in north-central West Virginia; APR Energy commissioned an expansion of its power plant in Myanmar; The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved Westinghouse Electric’s testing approach for the Westinghouse small modular reactor design; FuelCell Energy agreed to sell a 1.4-MW fuel cell power plant project to NRG Energy; ABB and Samsung SDI signed a memorandum of understanding to promote microgrid solutions globally; And others ...

Digest (April 2015)

PG&E asked state regulators for permission to build ~ 25,000 EV chargers across its service area in Northern and Central California - if approved, it would mark the largest deployment of EV charging stations in the country; Lockheed Martin and Dominion Resources have co-developed a new smart grid technology called VirtuGrid to enable remote detection of power outages for faster mapping and response; Panda Power Funds and Sunbury Generation LP will develop, finance, construct and operate a 1,000-MW gas-fired, combined-cycle power project in Pennsylvania; Siemens secured an order of 157 wind turbines in South Africa from Mainstream Renewable Power; PSE&G recently put two new landfill solar farms in service as part of its Solar 4 All program; Exelon Generation will add 195-MW of electric generation capacity at the Medway (Mass.) facility; ABB won a $35 million order for gas-insulated switchgear and shunt reactors from Belgian electricity transmission system operator Elia; Iberdrola USA agreed to acquire UIL Holdings and create a newly listed publicly traded company; Chesapeake Utilities agreed to merge Gatherco into Aspire Energy of Ohio, a wholly-owned subsidiary; and others...

Energy Storage: Out of the Lab and Onto the Grid

As deployments take hold, real-world challenges abound.

Energy storage has advanced rapidly, leaving the lab and entering a phase of deployment on the grid. Storage's advancements are a result of its promise as well as the tireless support of industry stakeholders who modeled, tested, evaluated and demonstrated the technology.